TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Kerr Kriisa followed up a triple-double in his previous game with a career-high 24 points and No. 14 Arizona steamrolled a third straight opponent to open the season, beating Utah Tech 104-77 on Thursday night.
Kriisa was 6 of 7 from 3-point range and 6 of 6 at the foul line, adding four rebounds and five assists. In his previous game, last week against Southern, the junior point guard had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for his second career triple-double, becoming just the third player in school history to do it multiple times.
Azuolas Tubelis and Cedric Henderson Jr. both had 20 points and Oumar Ballo added 16 points and 11 rebounds as Arizona (3-0) topped 100 points for the second time in three games. The Wildcats were 12 of 22 from beyond the arc and shot 63.6% for the game.
Utah Tech (1-3) got 13 points from Noa Gonsalves and 12 each from Frank Staine and Dancell Leter but shot only 36.1%. The Trailblazers made 13 steals, converting 19 Arizona turnovers into 21 points.
Arizona led 49-21 at halftime despite 12 giveaways, shooting 62% from the floor and grabbing five more rebounds than Utah Tech had points. The Trailblazers surpassed their first-half scoring total less than nine minutes into the second but couldn't get the deficit below 23 at 78-55 with 8:23 to go.
Arizona spotted Utah Tech a 4-0 lead before going on a 23-4 run in which the Wildcats made nine of 10 shots, including five 3s. Another 18-2 run made it 41-13 with 5:08 left in the first half.
The Trailblazers missed 18 of 19 shots during one stretch, shooting just 18.7% in the opening 20 minutes.
BIG PICTURE
Utah Tech: The Trailblazers are in their third year of the four-year transition period after moving up from Division II, but this is the first season under their new school name. In July, the university officially changed its name from Dixie State.
Arizona: The Wildcats have won 22 consecutive games at McKale Center, tied for the third-longest active streak in Division I and their best since winning 49 in a row from 2013-16. The program record is 71 from 1987-92.
UP NEXT
Utah Tech: Continues a four-game road trip at Idaho on Saturday. The Trailblazers aren't home again until Dec. 9.
Arizona: Heads to Hawaii to play in the Maui Invitational, opening Monday against Cincinnati.
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Postgame Media
Utah Tech head coach Jon Judkins
What will your team take away from tonights game?
"Try to play like them, you know, we saw them on film and they're a top ten team, there's no question about it. They shoot like they shot tonight, I don't think there's too many teams that'll beat them. They share the ball so well, they defend well, they're physical. They're well coached. They do a good job. So hopefully we learned, what are the bigs doing to our bigs? We got to do the same thing back. I thought second half we kind of started to fight a little bit. First half it looked like we were a little bit scared, and we can't have that when you come to an arena like this. It's packed and it's loud. It's gonna happen, but that's why we play them and hopefully we learn from this and get better and watch film and try to do a better job. We missed a lot of shots, we didn't shoot well."
What was the turning point in tonights game?
"Probably when they started hitting threes honestly. We got up like 6-2 and then they came down and had 6 straight threes in a row on us and they built the lead way up. We didn't want to slow down, lock it up, but we wanted to execute better and they did a good job getting us out of our stuff. Our guys were screening good, but then they hit some big shots and then those threes just kind of changed the game. It turns out you're 12-15 points down and that's one thing I like about their team is they get a lead and they just keep pushing. Sometimes teams back off and they just kept pushing and that's something we have to do as well."
Pelle Larson played well tonight. What do you think made him so difficult to guard?
"Oh, hes just a good, hes a solid player, he can shoot it, he can drive it, you know, rebounds, he does all these things very well. He's a capable three point shooter, he's a really good driver and hes a really good rebounder. That's what he did tonight. Their, your point guard, he's just unreal, he just doesn't speed up, he's under control, he sees things, and they just share the ball. Sometimes we try to force too many things and try to do it ourselves. They just shared the ball and that's something we have to get better with."
